{
  "id": 7901558,
  "title": "Critical Metals says it has ‘cracked’ eudialyte hurdle, plans $2.2B a year refinery in Romania",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/16/critical-metals-says-it-has-cracked-eudialyte-hurdle-plans-2-2b-a",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-16T23:58:24.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Mining.com",
    "slug": "mining-com",
    "url": "https://www.mining.com/critical-metals-says-it-has-cracked-eudialyte-hurdle-plans-2-2b-a-year-refinery-in-romania/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Critical Metals has announced a breakthrough in its eudialyte processing technology, which it claims could revolutionize the handling of eudialyte ores and unlock significant value from this rare and critical mineral. Eudialyte is prized for its content of zirconium, hafnium and heavy rare earth elements, which are in high demand for advanced industrial, aerospace, technology and defense applications. The company's patent-pending process claims to dissolve over 99% of eudialyte concentrate and recover 19 ultra-high-purity rare earth and critical metal products, including precious metal salts such as hafnium and niobium.\n\nPlans are underway to build a $2.2 billion-a-year refinery in Romania to process eudialyte concentrate from the Tanbreez project, one of the largest undeveloped heavy rare earth assets outside China. The Romanian joint venture refinery will initially draw 50% of feedstock from Tanbreez and is designed to produce up to 100,000 tons of rare earth and critical metal products annually. Key by-products include high-purity silica powder, which could generate an estimated $600 million in annual revenue.\n\nThe proposed Romania refinery would employ a multistage, mixed-acid leach process operating at high temperatures to achieve the required purification levels. By capturing traditionally wasted materials like silica, alumina, iron and copper during processing, the company aims to reduce waste generation and develop a more environmentally sustainable operation. If realized, the Romania refinery would position Critical Metals as a Western supplier of critical materials, complementing Tanbreez's rare eudialyte resource with domestic downstream processing capabilities.",
  "summary": "Preliminary refinery study outlines a joint venture designed to process feedstock from its Tanbreez rare earth project in Greenland.",
  "key_points": [
    "Critical Metals claims breakthrough in eudialyte processing technology",
    "$2.2 billion-a-year refinery planned in Romania for Tanbreez project",
    "Multistage mixed-acid leach process aims to reduce waste and generate revenue"
  ],
  "editors_take": "Critical Metals' breakthrough in eudialyte processing technology could position it as a major Western supplier of critical materials, reducing reliance on China and generating significant revenue from rare earth and critical metal products.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}